As I was driving back to Johor from Kuala Lumpur after a weekend getaway with the family for the holidays, the dreaded weekend traffic was there, ever faithful, ever dearie, accompanying me all throughout my drive.

What irked me the most was not because of the monotonous scenery along the way, or the turtle pace of the traffic, but it was the speeding cars on the emergency lane that really got my blood boiling.

Cars of all makes and models, Malaysian and Singaporean plate numbers alike, recklessly endangering the lives of other road users and egotistically breaking the law just so that they can arrive home faster than everyone else.

My wife and co-pilot brought something up from the papers that she read recently.

“Did you know that Singapore motorists owes Malaysia over RM42mil for outstanding traffic summonses? That’s over 140,000 summonses over the past 9 years!”

I was quite shocked at the numbers. Then, I started to notice and count the number of Singaporean cars that zipped by, comparing them to the number of Malaysian cars mindlessly using the emergency lanes. After a few dull hours, I lost count.

However, it made me realize that it’s a huge source of revenue for the country gone down the emergency lane (excuse the pun). What terrifies me even more is that the huge number of summons means that there is a high probability of a major accident just waiting to happen (1/15,555 likelihood if my maths serves me right).

If Singaporeans can drive courteously and follow the rules and law in Singapore, why can’t they do it in Malaysia?

Reckless Malaysian drivers are bad enough, so why the need to add to the statistics?

Regardless, I applaud all the efforts that the police and road enforcement agencies are doing to keep the roads safe for both Malaysians and Singaporeans alike. I too believe that most Singaporeans are law abiding citizens, in Singapore and In Malaysia.

However, it wouldn’t hurt them one bit if the Police, JPJ or Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya (JKJR) can go one step further in reducing the number of traffic offenders during the holiday season based on some ideas brought up by my dear ‘co-pilot’ ‘cum-finance minister.’

EDUCATE

Place a big flat screen monitor at all the entry points of Singapore-Malaysia showing videos of the “Do’s and Don’ts” and traffic law in Malaysia so that everyone (especially Singaporeans) can watch and learn from the video whilst waiting in que for at the checkpoints.

ENFORCE:

Ask the drivers entering Malaysia to sign a “Pledge of Compliance” so that they are committing, in writing, that they will follow and obey the traffic rules and regulation in Malaysia.

Banned the entry of Singapore vehicles that has outstanding summonses.

Issue a gentle reminder to repeating traffic offenders before returning back to Singapore and inform them of the repercussion for non-compliances.

This is not meant in any way to discriminate, but is just my opinion of what can be done to make sure my children, wife and other family members are safe on the road. Keep in mind that statistics from PDRM have proven that there are 275,663 outstanding summonses and 5,358 arrest warrants had been issued for foreign traffic offenders over the past seven years, where Singaporeans recorded the highest number of offenders with 184,014 summonses, followed by Brunei (63,696), Thailand (22,334), Indonesia (2,880) and others (2,739). Singaporeans recorded the highest amongst arrest warrants issued to foreigners, at 3,423, followed by Thai nationals (1,116).

Regardless, it helps to be respectful of other countries’ Laws and be courteous on the road.

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